France does not contribute ‘enough’ to EU pharmaceutical sovereignty, lobby says

3 months ago 11

France is lagging behind in the production of medicines, the association of French pharmaceutical companies, Leem, warned in a new barometer published on Tuesday (June 18).

The barometer produced by Roland Berger consulting sounded the alarm: France is no longer an attractive country to invest in the pharmaceutical sector compared to other European rivals.

In 2008, France was Europe’s leading producer of medicines, but now ranks sixth, behind Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the UK, according to the government’s official data.

Although investment in research and development in the pharmaceutical sector is on the rise, “there is an urgent need for action to accelerate the arrival of innovations and patient access to treatments”, warned Thierry Hulot, Leem’s president.

Fewer than one in ten new medicines is produced in France, compared with one in four in Germany. France, the authors wrote, is not contributing enough to Europe’s health sovereignty.

The main reasons for France’s pharmaceutical decline are high taxes and low-cost medicines, which manufacturers describe as having a “scissor effect” on their sector. The report said that “France overtaxes the pharmaceutical industry [… ] and imposes prices that are on average 10% lower than in comparable European countries.”

In France, sectorial taxes (energy, environmental and other indirect taxes) for the pharmaceutical industry is estimated at 88%, compared to 74% in the UK, 43% in Germany, 53% in Spain and 3% in Switzerland.”

In France, taxes applied to the pharmaceutical industry reaches 88%. In the United Kingdom, it is 74%, in Germany 43%, in Spain 53% and in Switzerland 3%.

The situation is not without consequences for patients; 37% of new drugs authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) between 2019 and 2022 were still not available in France at the end of 2023, compared with 12% in Germany.

France, which ranks third in Europe in terms of clinical trials, “is not exploiting its full potential for innovation”, according to Leem, depriving patients of access to innovative medicines.

“This barometer shows just how far we still have to go before we can make France a truly attractive place to live in terms of healthcare and access to treatment,” said Hulot.

Leem has drawn up a list of recommendations, which it intends to submit to the appropriate government departments once the next government is in place after the parliamentary elections on 30 June and 7 July.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]